Funeral Hum
from the mouth of God,
i fall without help into darkness
a song without words,
this tune is shaped like my mother
in a box, in an ambulance,
by the rushing of trees
to where the earth opens
to close again
Broken Children Are Born At Funerals
i.
love is a duty
you don’t become a ghost
and disappear
like mother, father
closed his eyes and
woke to dreams of white places
and we wore black
standing before a hole
in the ground, watching
a man run after his wife
ii.
mother was a song
happy, with the
aroma of tomato and spice
mother was full of life
a body of many things
vibrating in a house with
rooms full of chaos
one day, she sat at midnight
drained of air,
and became a memory
iii.
home started running
on the day father left and
we became thirsty travelers
fooled by the sight of
vanishing waters
home eludes us
whenever we want to retire
so we sleep on the memoirs
of a man, his wife and their children
iv.
in the black of my brother’s eyes,
sadness reflects as the face of a
six year old girl listening to her
aunt say mother is with God
he believes too-
mother chose God over us
v.
broken children are the
products of selfish parents
vi.
hymns remind me of numbness
too many funerals can cause
a boy to die once, twice
till his heart stops
believing in miracles
vii.
silence is not
always a show of strength
viii.
grief is a wall, a refuge
for abandoned children
I grew up there – finding God
with eyes closed and
knees bent on quick sand
ix.
healing began as a dream
a holy river reclaiming lost land
shallow sentiments turning into mud
I woke swamped in my sweat
healing was a myth
my body was still lost (in denial)
to pain, to places
I have felt and been
x.
answers begets more questions
maybe peace comes
after many tears
Joshua Omena is the author of Brave – a chapbook.
His works have featured in: Work Naija- a book of vocations, Afridiaspora’s My Africa, My City Anthology. He has also been published on Kalahari review, Brittlepaper and several other literary journals.
He has a collection of poems forthcoming. Although he currently works as a content developer in an Ad agency, he is sometimes a Freelance Writer. He writes on www.medium.com/@joshua